Wilfully kill, injure, take, possess or cruelly treat a badger. Licences for works will normally only be granted for works to be undertaken in the period 1st July to 30th November. This shows that the protection to vaccination badgers offered by the current Government proposal of a 200 metre buffer zone measured from the centre of a land holding would be negligible. 8. A licence application to interfere with a badger sett was made by LG and was granted by Natural England. As such, if badgers are present on site or within close proximity of ground-breaking works (i.e. Tunnels vary in length; most are under 15 metres, but exceptionally they reach about 20 metres. Referring to your development plans, the next step is to clarify how the badger sett would be impacted by your actions. Licences will only be granted when a valid planning permission is already in place. When seeking planning permission, survey reports and mitigation plans are required if: Badger surveys In a few rare cases people may build setts with the hope that some badgers turn up and occupy the sett. Use 1-way badger gates for at least 21 days from the last sign of badgers accessing the sett. It’s an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to a badger sett. A https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/european-badger-setts Create unlit ‘green corridors’ to help badgers access their existing foraging habitat. Historical or distribution records show that badgers are active in the area or there is suitable habitat for sett building. No artificial lighting (either during or after construction) to be positioned where it would fall on the main badger sett, or well used paths leading directly from it. Sometimes we will check more setts the next day, as will others who we will notify. The territorial boundaries if there are alternative setts which badgers could move to if a sett is destroyed. Don’t let artificial lighting fall on the badger sett, during or after construction. Para 175 of the National Planning Policy Framework (July 2018) states that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should apply the following principle: “…if significant harm to biodiversity resulting from a development cannot be avoided (through locating on an alternative site…), mitigated or, as a last resort, compensated for, then planning permission should be refused…”. In practice, this could potentially be for a period of several weeks after the last actual occupation of the sett by a badger or badgers. Copyright © Inside Ecology Ltd 2021 - All rights reserved. away from where it could result in damage to the sett or disturbance to any badger occupying the sett. Betts Ecology and Estates 14 Destructive search of cleared reptile trapping areas, under ECoW watching brief (outside of badger sett buffer zones). This means that the tunnels and chambers and the areas … Intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to a badger sett. Fires and chemicals must not be used within 20 metres of a sett. MORE, Contact us – Email info (at) insideecology.com. There are numerous advertising and sponsorship opportunities available on Inside Ecology. Land development and biodiversity work together when responsible landowners seek the right help. Protection Zones Around Setts As well as careful timing, the best protection from damage or disturbance will normally be to restrict or avoid forest operations close to badger setts. Registered office: Stanley House, 49 Dartford Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3TE. Den use can be crucial in buffering environmental conditions and especially to provide an insulated environment for raising altricial young. The magazine provides a dynamic platform for people to exchange ideas, promote discussion and supply information to those with a ‘professional’ interest in the natural world. A sett is therefore protected as long as such signs remain present. Inside Ecology is an online magazine aimed at Ecologists, Conservationists and Wildlife Professionals. Disturb a badger while it is occupying a sett. This work must be done under Licence from Natural England. These include setts, dung, dung heaps, snuffle holes, footprints, pathways and hairs (often caught on wire where the animal squeezes under a fence). Read our case study about installing artificial badger setts. Evidence from the large badger vaccination site in the original West Somerset zone showed that cull operatives deliberately ignored the buffer zone on several occasions in order to target the vaccinated … Use mitigation measures to reduce the impacts General mitigation measures which can be incorporated into development plans: 3. The removal of any badger sett is only possible under licence. Even if it’s not currently occupied, if there are signs of badgers nearby, the sett remains protected. This makes it an offence to: Planning process Inside Ecology Ltd will use the information you provide on the sign-up form below to send you our occasional Newsletter. There are two elements to this offence; 1) There must be an action capable of disturbing a badger, which amounts to an interference with a sett; and 2) A badger must be occupying the sett at the time of the disturbance. Please read our Privacy Policy. 8 … Don’t position footpaths, benches, and play areas close to the setts. Further information: The Badger Trust website can be found HERE. If your initial badger surveys have revealed setts on your land, it’s still possible to achieve planning permission for development so long as you demonstrate the correct suitable badger mitigation actions. No animals or active badger setts have so far been involved in the tests, the government says. If you can accommodate the badger sett area safely within your development, mitigation is more straight forward. During construction, install fencing to protect the sett area. Remember that a 30-metre buffer area must be left around the setts as their tunnels can extend far underground. These buffer zones were overlaid on classification maps of ALC to extract the proportion of each ALC classification, within each buffer zone, for each farm and sett. Where badgers are present in low And if more than 50% of the identified holes and setts need to be closed, an artificial sett may be required. Setts can usually be classified as one of the following1: 1. On completion of the surveys, your ecological consultant should help you to scope this out, keeping you the right side of the law. It’s typical to place a one-way gate over the entrance of the sett so that badgers can leave but not return. Protection measures during construction to include the erection of Heras fencing (with suitable entrances for badgers to pass underneath/ through) to ensure equipment and materials do not pass into this buffer zone. Assuming you can retain the sett safely, including 30-metre buffer zone, the following measures are likely: Should your development plan impact on the land within 30 metres of the setts, badger mitigation becomes more complex. Main Setts: These usually have a large number of holes with large spoil heaps, and look well used. 2 m, supplemented by continuous daily logging at one entrance per sett. An artificial sett (sometimes known as a badger bunker) is a sett constructed by humans to be suitable for badgers to move into. See section on artificial setts for further information. Online Magazine for Ecologists, Conservationists and Wildlife Professionals, Wasps: why I love them, and why you should too. Pictures are filed with the sett location on them and it is posted on the Stop Badger Sett blocking page with only vague details re … Through Sept-Dec 2016 we monitored temperature and humidity at 11 badger setts (burrow systems), using thermal probes inserted over 4–13 sett entrances to a depth of ca. A badger sett is defined in the legislation as any structure or place which displays signs of current use by badgers. This blog summarises what you need to know about badger mitigation when planning a land development project. They might be part of the main sett, an outlier sett, or a subsidiary sett, for example. badger, or to attempt to do so; to intentionally or recklessly interfere with a sett. The best time to survey is in early spring or late autumn when badgers are active but there is less vegetation to hide the signs (although surveys can be undertaken at any time of year). Retention of main badger sett with provision of a 30m buffer zone surrounding the outermost entrances. Protection measures during construction to include the erection of Heras fencing (with suitable entrances for badgers to pass underneath/ through) to ensure equipment and materials do … increased badger commuting and foraging evidence around their vicinity. You might even discover that your natural habitat enhances the development further. In 2011, a remote motion-activated infra-red camera was used to determine badger occupancy at a three-entrance outlier sett that also required closure during the badger breeding season. Although this farm is relatively large and compact for the region, the locations of its setts mean that a 200m buffer around it only fully encloses the area where an average badger would be expected to remain on 10% of nights in Aug-Oct (Figure 3). A total of 409 badgers in the outer area (termed a buffer zone) were tested (317 of which were culled in the 2019 season) and only 3 were found to be positive. Typically during badger surveys a buffer zone of up to 50m is surveyed around the site boundary, where this is accessible. Setts are often located in woodland, hedgerows or in dense patches of scrub on steep banks close to fields. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 doesn’t just protect the animals themselves it also protects their habitat. Further compensation measures might be necessary if your development would destroy further badger foraging areas. Your ecologist will help you to acquire a licence and install an artificial sett. badger sett is defined in the legislation as “any structure or place which displays signs indicating current use by a badger”. • A badger sett is protected by the legislation if it “displays signs indicating current use by a badger”. Disturbance could include digging or scrub clearance within 30m of the sett. A report is sent to the Badger Trust, local badger groups, other sabs / monitors, other parties. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss our badger surveys and how we help you mitigate against any impact on this important protected species. 6. This is what the well-known countryman Phil Drabble did on his land as back back as the 1970s. Extra surveys must be undertaken if there are active setts or foraging grounds. When you work with a qualified ecological consultancy, you know your actions are lawful. In complex cases, where several setts are found in the survey area, bait marking is used to identify the territories of different badger clans. England is now divided into Low, Intermediate and High Risk Areas, with buffer zones known as Edge Areas, and has the highest incidence of bTB in Europe. This includes any disturbance within 30 metres of the sett. The site to include safe areas of passage away from the sett to existing foraging habitat within their territory by provision of unlit ‘green corridors’. Company number: 08260167. How should the British countryside look post-Brexit... We studied the DNA of African and Asian leopards and... advertising and sponsorship opportunities. associated with the nearest badger sett (burrow) simplified in this paper to zones 2 or 5 km from (N=59); if no sett was identified in the vicinity each removal area's peripheral limit (see Fig. However, access constraints limited the survey to the site boundary in some areas (see Section 2.4 for information on access constraints). Sett interference includes disturbing badgers whilst they are occupying a sett, as well as damaging or destroying a sett or obstructing access to it. Mapping the path to rewilding: the importance of... UK winter holidays no longer needed by some ducks. Protection Zones Badgers (Meles meles) As detailed in the Badgers and Development booklet - badger setts require protection zones at a distance of 25 metres from each sett entrance. When you’re looking to develop land, planning authorities seek to understand the implications to wildlife and natural habitats of importance. Developers (and/or their ecologists) should provide an assessment of the impacts if no mitigation is incorporated, before assessing impact with mitigation factored in (using the following approach): 2. 2.6 Badger 2.6.1 Study Area The study area for badger encompassed the footprint of the development and a 50m buffer zone. 7. Licences to undertake some actions can be issued if it is justified, for example where a badger sett is found on a … In the Cumbria cull zone in 2018*** and 2016**** a total of 919 badgers were culled. Worcester, WR6 6PB